I understand why Angelina Jolie’s ride-or-die fans are basically doing forensic analysis of all the ways Brad Pitt has tried to screw her over. Like, I get it and I think it’s smart to create a record of everything too. But I also think some of the Jolie fans are missing the bigger picture, which is that Pitt is a wreck and it’s increasingly obvious that he’s in a pretty desperate state. Selling off his extensive real estate holdings, getting “friends” to cover his MIR NOLA debt, selling off his stake in Plan B, and waging a half-assed legal fight in multiple jurisdictions across the US and Europe – the man is not well and he’s about to lose it all. In the middle of all of this is the fact that Angelina and Brad’s divorce still hasn’t been finalized. They bifurcated the divorce years ago, so they’re legally divorced, but they have spent the past eight years taking each other to court over money and custody of their children.

Many commenters called this years ago, that Angelina was playing a longer game so that the kids would be old enough to age out of court-ordered visitation or joint custody. While I think that might have been part of Jolie’s strategy, I also think the kids didn’t want anything to do with Brad after he terrorized them and attacked their mother on a plane in 2016. In any case, just before Easter, the Mail had an exclusive report on how the Jolie-Pitt divorce is winding down:

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s years-long bitter divorce battle is finally nearing the end – as the actor has now reportedly dropped his pursuit seeking shared custody of the children he has with his ex. A source told DailyMail.com that the couple, who have been embroiled in a nasty courtroom showdown since they split in 2016, are currently in negotiations and are finally approaching the finish line in their epic legal war, with an end expected by the summer.

While Brad, 60, had originally sought a 50/50 arrangement relating to their six kids, an insider has now revealed that he is no longer contesting the matter. That means that Angelina, 48, will retain primary physical custody of the children and he will have visitation rights.

One factor in that decision is that much of their brood has ‘aged out’ – only Shiloh, 17, Knox, and Vivienne, both 15, are still under 18 – and Shiloh will pass that milestone in May. The older children – Maddox 22, Pax, 20, and Zahara, 19 – are thought to have difficult relationships with Brad; and as adults, in the eyes of the law, are now not covered by any custody agreements.

Adopted son Pax allegedly hasn’t spoken to the Fight Club alum since the now-infamous private plane fight which ended the marriage, and is said to not even regard Brad as a parent anymore. Back in 2020, on his private Instagram account, he called Brad a ‘world class a**hole’ and ‘despicable person’ who made his four youngest children ‘tremble in fear,’ as previously revealed by DailyMail.com. He added in the scathing post, shared on Father’s Day: ‘You time and time and again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person. You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence. You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you’re incapable of doing so.’

In addition, Zahara now goes by ‘Zahara Jolie’ rather than ‘Zahara Jolie Pitt,’ which is her legal name.

A source from Brad’s camp described what has gone on between him and the kids as ‘textbook parental alienation’ and claimed it was Angelina’s intention to draw out the divorce until the children were 18.

Her friends, though, have insisted: ‘Brad has nobody to blame but himself. All Angelina wants is to heal their family and move on.’

[From The Daily Mail]

You can’t cry “parental alienation” when Zahara joined her mother in Washington to advocate for the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization to include new provisions for traumatized and abused children. Now you can whine about “parental alienation” when the FBI report on the plane incident included information about how Pitt choked one of his children. Be for real. Anyway, I hope this story is true and Angelina can finally be done with all of the legal drama. It’s also worth noting that custody wasn’t the only outstanding issue in their divorce though – they’ve spent the past eight years arguing about money, and I still don’t believe that Pitt has made all of the financial disclosures to the family court.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.